HOMER, Ill. (WCIA) -- Fire Protection Districts across Illinois -- including Sidney, Mid-Piatt County and Homer -- are seeking help from farmers because of a high field fire risk.

Parts of Champaign and Piatt County are in a severe drought and portions of 20 Central Illinois counties are in a moderate drought. Dennis Riggs, a Champaign County farmer, has farmed since 1969 and said he’s never seen a summer this dry.

“All of a sudden, mother nature turns the faucet off and we got problems,” Riggs said. “There's just nothing left, it's dry, it's flaky, you set a match to that and boom it actually sort of explodes.”

Riggs said he had to help with field fires in the past, where farmers can use tillage equipment to get ahead of the fire. He noted farmers’ responsibilities can change depending

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